The Baby (The Boss 5)

I must have been temporarily insane, because this idea was starting to sound better and better.

“I think…” I took a breath. “I’m nuts, but I think I’m going to do it.”

“Do it, now,” Holli urged. “Before you lose your nerve. Go call her. If it goes badly, I’m already here to help you in the aftermath.”

“Good point.” I got to my feet and slipped my phone from my pocket. “Don’t listen in.”

“I won’t.” She crossed her heart. “I don’t want to do anything that would prevent you getting laid.”

I held my phone to my chest. “Aww. That’s really sweet.”

“That’s why we’re best friends.” She reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a folded ziplock bag and a pack of papers. “I’ll roll us a J. Either a celebratory one, or a rejection one.”

Praying it would be the former, I pulled up Gena’s contact as I walked from the room. I hoped it would go to voicemail, because I wasn’t sure what I planned to say. If I could just leave a brief message—

“Sophie!”

Damn it.

“Hi, Gena,” I said, and I hated the way my voice sounded.

“I haven’t heard from you for a while. I was just thinking of you.” She quickly added, “I’m not saying that to make you feel guilty.”

“I didn’t think you were. Actually, I feel kind of guilty for calling.” I hesitated. “Okay, this is a booty call. I realize how shitty that is of me, since I haven’t talked to you in, like, months, but just a lot of stuff has been going on, and I’m lonely and horny and I thought, ‘Hey, Gena said to call her any time.’ And I know that’s not what you meant by it—”

“It wasn’t not what I meant by it,” she said, then rephrased. “I mean, it’s okay. It was never off the table.”

“Oh.”

Silence fell between us, and I wanted to shrink down and hide in the carpet.

“So…you want to hook up?” she asked with a cute little laugh.

“Um, yeah. I thought maybe you might want to come over some time…soonish. Olivia is with her grandmother on a trip to London, so I’m on my own for a couple of weeks.” Oh, shit, I hadn’t told her about Neil, yet. This was going to be awkward as fuck. “And Neil is… He’s out of town, too.”

“Oh. Sophie…” Her voice trailed off, and I got weirdly defensive. Was the only reason she wanted to get together because she wanted to fuck Neil, again? “Is Neil okay with this? I mean, you’re not…”

“No! No, no, no,” I babbled. Of course she wasn’t trying to get to my husband through me. That was absurd, especially since I was the one who’d called her. “I don’t want to make it weird, but Neil is in some…let’s just call it sleep-away therapy. And, since he’s going through his own shit, he’s totally fine with me going outside our usual arrangement.”

“I’m so sorry. I wasn’t trying to imply—”

“I get it. And I really appreciate that you were concerned about that. I’m not sure I’d want to fuck somebody who didn’t care about cheating.” One thing I’d noticed in my relationship with Neil was that fucking other people meant trust had to be that much more solid. Being able to trust an outside partner made it even better.

Still, I felt the need to add, “But I totally get it if you’re not comfortable with us not coming as a package deal.”

“No, I would…” Her voice lowered, as though she were trying to keep our discussion confidential.

Crap, what if I’d called her for a hookup at work?

“I would absolutely love to see you,” she whispered. “But I can’t plan things right now, my boss just arrived. Text me later?”

“Yes. Absolutely,” I told her. We hung up quickly, my heart beating so hard I got dizzy from my excitement. I braced myself with a hand against the wall before I went back to the theater.

“So?” Holli demanded, bouncing excitedly as I entered.

I held up my hands. “I’m getting laid!”

“Yes!” She bolted her feet and charged me, nearly tackling me with her hug. “Oh, my gosh, a casual hookup that will actually stay casual this time!”